The Madness Remains
by Reika-Hell-Flower
Summary: Happy Tree Town... a place of madness... a place of death... What is there behind the doors of Happy Tree Town Asylum? What secrets do the patients hide? And the staff? Is what we see on the cartoon real? Or the fabrication of their delusional minds...?
1. Chapter 1 - The Asylum

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Happy Tree Friends" and its characters**

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><p>"I want to go home now…"<p>

There was no helping it. She was already regretting her decision and she hadn't even walked in yet.

The young girl stood in front of a large building that was once snow white; the walls were worn out by time, however, and now seemed to be golden beige. Some ivies were starting to slither up the walls, reaching the lower windows. The building seemed to have nothing but windows, with only one large door at the front, dark brown and very uninviting. Even less inviting was the gate she had just walked by, which was falling apart and was also slowly being taken over by vegetation. If she didn't know any better, she would have said that place was deserted. On retrospective, she was probably hoping it was, so she would have a legitimate excuse to get the hell out of there.

She was silently cursing whoever was responsible for taking care of the place, as they were obviously doing a very lousy job. Either that or they wanted to scare off people. How on earth had she ended up accepting to even go for the job interview…? Truth be told, considering the options, she didn't have much of a choice – she had studied to be a PMH (Psychiatric-Mental Health) nurse after all, and around her town there was nowhere where she could put her years of studying to good use. Then came her aunt, who told her about this mental asylum located on a secluded town she had never visited before. With good reason. The rumors about the "curse of Happy Tree Town" were not only creepy, but chances are they were also true. Still, it was either that or moving to a far-away town, or ending up working as a store clerk. After burning her eyelashes studying for so long, it would have been an insult to not get the job she wanted. She was, though, expecting the place to not be as scary as the asylums always depicted in movies. Her brother had teased her non-stop about how the biggest scaredy-cat in the family was going to work on a mental asylum, a place that was always – _always_ – depicted as being scary and full of nightmare fuel in horror movies. But she was not going to prove him right! She was going to take that job, and be successful! Plus, she had heard that the head psychiatrist at the place was one of the best in his field – she would be a fool to pass on such an opportunity!

"_Come on, Sugar, be brave! You knew handling mental patients wouldn't be a walk in the park! Honestly, after those exams you had to pass, you can take on anything. Go for it!"_

Sugar took in a deep breath and walked towards what felt like her impending doom. She could practically hear the high-pitched scratchy ambient music going on, like they always did when a character in a movie was going somewhere dangerous… She sighed, shaking her head. Her imagination was getting the best of her again. Standing in front of the door, she rang the bell and waited for an answer. After a few seconds, she heard the familiar sound of the speaker being turned on.

"Happy Tree Town Asylum. How may I help you?" asked a pleasant whimsical voice.

Sugar swallowed hard before answering. "Hm, I'm here for the job interview… Doctor Grim is expecting me, I…"

"Oh yes, the doctor said he was expecting a promising new nurse. Wait just a second…"

Sugar shot the speaker an inquisitive look. "Promising"? Well, then, she couldn't let Doctor Grim down if he had such expectations now could she? So much for running away real fast and catching the first taxi back home…

After just a couple of seconds, the door opened and a nurse was at the door to greet her. She was sporting the typical white attire, and smiled at Sugar warmly. She seemed to be in her 40's, and had a very maternal feel – whatever that meant.

"Doctor Grim is at his office, dear. I will guide you there," she said, allowing Sugar to walk in.

Just a couple of steps into the hall and she was positively impressed. The inside of the building was nothing like the outside. It was fresh and peaceful, well-lit and clean. It didn't even feel like the same place.

Relief must have spread all across Sugar's face, as the nurse next to her walked past her with a knowing smile.

"Don't look so pleased yet, dear, this is the easy part," she warned. Sugar's head turned so fast to look at her that it hurt her neck. "The hall is pretty for the families that come to visit. Down where the patients are, is another story…"

Sugar gulped. _God damn it._

The maternal nurse lead her through a small hall, with doors that lead to the bathrooms, a waiting room and a room that was apparently used by the nurses on break, as the nurses there were chatting merrily and having coffee. The place didn't seem so bad… then again, the nurse had warned her that she was in the "easy part". What, did they keep the patients on dungeons? It would certainly match with the rumors…

"The Curse of Happy Tree Town". She had heard the stories many times, and tried to shrug them off, though there was always a small voice in her head that screamed _"I ain't ever going near that place…"_ Ah, life sure is ironic… People used to say Happy Tree Town used to be, like the name suggested, a very happy and nature-oriented place. The inhabitants were pleasant, life there was easy, and everything was grand… Until one day an excavation lead by some well-known archeologist found an unusual object of unknown origins. It was later named "The Cursed Idol". It is said that ever since The Cursed Idol was found, unusual deaths started taking place in Happy Tree Town, starting with the archeologist and his companions. Following the deaths, rumors talk of birds falling dead from the skies, dogs going crazy and attacking their owners, and eventually, most of the people living in Happy Tree Town going crazy. The town was kept in quarantine for a while, as specialists associated all the odd events taking place there with some kind of unknown substance in the air that was released by the excavation of the Cursed Idol. Sugar knew the town had gotten out of quarantine quite some time ago, but the uneasy feeling it gave off still lingered. When she arrived, it was easy to tell that the once happy town was everything but cheerful now. The few people living there walked by with their heads hanging low, and most of the stores were abandoned. Apparently, there were plans of building something like a Neo Happy Tree Town, more advanced and a bit distanced from the old town, so the inhabitants could move there and stay clear from all the rumors and bad environment. Sounded like a wonderful idea, and Sugar was all for it. The hotel she had checked in for while a new house was unavailable was not a place she was thrilled about returning to.

"Here we are, dear. Wait just a minute, I'll go warn him you're here."

Sugar nodded as the nurse walked in the office. She was now starting to get nervous. Doctor Grim was a famous person, amongst her community anyway. She had to make a good impression. It seemed like he was already expecting something good from her, so all she had to do was match that with a pleasant personality. It was difficult being pleasant when she was feeling so nervous though…

The door opened, making Sugar jump slightly. From the other side, the maternal nurse peeked, smiling. "Come in, dear, Doctor Grim is free to talk to you now."

The nurse walked out, allowing Sugar to walk into the doctor's office. She looked left to see a small desk with a computer, a phone and an enormous pile of papers. The man seating at the desk looked up at her from behind his square glasses and gestured for her to sit in front of him. Sugar did so, daring herself to stare at the man. He had dark blue eyes and slick light blue hair. He had dark circles around his eyes, as if he had been having trouble sleeping lately. The way he rubbed his temples made it seem like he had a headache that day as well. He did not seem like an intimidating person, but Sugar knew all too well people could be exceptionally grouchy when having a headache.

"So, you're Sugar. Your aunt said wonders about you," the doctor said, coughing lightly at the beginning of the sentence.

"That so?" Sugar wasn't surprised. Her aunt spoiled her more than her mother did, and never passed on an opportunity to praise her. Still, she had no idea she was actually as an acquaintance of Doctor Grim…

Doctor Grim nodded. "Yes, yes. I told her how we needed a new nurse, and she was quick to nominate you. It seems you just finished university."

Sugar nodded, afraid that if she opened her mouth too much she would end up vomiting all over his desk. The butterflies in her stomach were getting wilder and wilder as the man stared at her. Damn it, and she had rehearsed in front of the mirror and everything! Looks like those three hours were a complete waste of time…

"Well, usually I wouldn't do this seeing as how you have no experience whatsoever, but you had outstanding results in your exams, and the teachers also had nothing but good things to say."

"Oh. You talked with my teachers?" Sugar asked, before she could help herself. Was that standard procedure for recruiting new members of the staff?

Doctor Grim evaluated her for a few seconds. "Certainly. I need to know what kind of knowledge you possess before taking you in. Not just anyone can make it in here." He paused, and then added "I don't know what kind of rumors you've heard about Happy Tree Town, Sugar, but it pains me to say they are not devoid of truth."

Sugar gulped. _Wasn't he supposed to be telling her they were lies and her life was going to be amazing there? _

He continued. "Some of Happy Tree Town's inhabitants have in fact lost some of their… mental capability, but not because of some curse or anything ludicrous like that. The Cursed Idol is real, that is true, but it was not the cause of all the things that this town went through. Many separate incidents – unfortunate as they were – caused this town to suffer a lot. The birds died from exposure to a rare substance that was released after some illegal excavations, some dogs contracted rabies after being attacked by an infected wolf that escaped the local veterinarian lab, and some of our townsfolk lost their minds after being convinced that the town was in fact under some sort of malevolent curse. As you see…"

Sugar leaned back on her chair. So the rumors were… kind of, true.

"And the quarantine?" she asked.

"That was simply prevention due to death of the birds. Specialists had to find the exact origin of the substance that killed them, and to do so had to stop strangers from getting in and any possible infected from getting out. It was tough times, not going to lie, but we got through it. Sadly, due to the human being's natural instinct to gossip, the story got distorted so badly hardly anyone wants to come to Happy Tree Town anymore. I'm sure you were hesitant yourself."

Sugar looked down in shame, but Doctor Grim did not sound upset.

"It's alright. Anyone who didn't know the truth would be scared. Regardless, you came here. That shows determination. And for a job like this, you sure need it." The doctor paused for a second to look at his papers.

"Sir," Sugar called, making the doctor look back at her. "I…" She gulped, and gathered all the small sparkles of courage she might have in her. "I would be extremely honored to work here. I am not bothered at all. I-I was going to work here even if the rumors of the c-curse were true. I want this job! You will not be disappointed!"

She swallowed a couple of times, watching the doctor closely. That last sentence sounded a bit more high pitched than she would have liked, but hey, at least she didn't cry… or puke.

Doctor Grim made a small smile before returning to his standard no-nonsense serious face. "Very well then. I will have you on trial for a month."

Sugar's face lit up. "Really?"

"Yes, you will be accompanied by one of our nurses. She will teach you everything you need to know and report back to me as to how well you do. Keep in mind, while you're on trial you will only handle the most… peaceful and easy patients we have. If, and only if, by the end of the month your results are satisfactory, you will officially become a nurse at Happy Tree Town Asylum. By then, you will receive another month of training as to how to handle our more serious cases."

Sugar stood up happily, accidentally knocking down the chair. "O-oh no, I'm so sorry…" She placed it back on its place quickly and turned back to the doctor, now with her face completely red. "Thank you so much for this opportunity, Doctor Grim! I promise, I won't -"

"Disappoint me, I know," he completed, smiling again. "I expect nothing else. Well, if that is all, you can come back tomorrow to start your training. See you tomorrow, Sugar."

The doctor showed a hand for Sugar to shake, which she took gladly. Too late did she realize her hand was all sweaty, but the doctor made no comments. With a final nod, Sugar excused herself out of his office and walked down the hall the nurse had led her through before, feeling almost as if her steps were bouncy.

_She had made it!_ She had landed a job next to _the_ Doctor Grim! Well, she was on trial, but still! If she wasn't so bad at it, she would start singing. As she passed by the maternal nurse again, she waved goodbye to her cheerfully. The nursed waved back, leading a trolley full of pills towards a door Sugar hadn't noticed before. There was something written over it...

"_Red Zone" _

"Red… Zone?" Sugar read, confused.

"That's the dangerous aisle, dear," the nurse replied. "Where the more serious cases are. You won't be starting off with them, don't worry."

"Oh I know, I know…"

So that was where the dangerous patients were… Sugar stayed on her place while the nurse reached for the keys to open the door, curious about how the hallway to the aisle looked like.

Once the door opened, her heart sank. Deafening screams burst out the door, and Sugar stepped back as if they could actually attack her. They seemed to be coming from everywhere.

"Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop ~ When the wind blows, the cradle will rock…"

"Come here, baby! Come here! Let me give you some loving ~"

"GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF ME -"

"WHERE IS IT?! AHAHAHAHAHA I can't find it… heeeheee… where is it? Oh god where is it?! WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?! I… can't… s-sniff… I need… I FUCKING NEED IT! Why? WHY?! PFT – HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"I didn't do it! I didn't do it! Why am I here? I want my mommy! MOMMY! MOMMY! IT WASN'T ME!"

"Fuck you! Fuck YOU! Let me out bitch! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

The nurse, seemingly unfazed by the screams, walked in with her head up high and closed the door behind her, muting the screams.

Sugar stayed frozen for some moments. That was… utterly terrifying. What kind of people… were down there?

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><p><strong>[AN - Ah the madness begins... No canon character yet, but they will appear next chapter. Any wild guesses as to who the screaming patients are? Hope you enjoy :D]**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Yellow Zone

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Happy Tree Friends" and its characters**

**[A/N: I'd like to point out that I did not study mental illnesses and am not an expert. I researched the symptoms and causes behind the mental illnesses that will be featured in this FanFiction, but if anything portrayed here is wrong, I apologize. It is not my intention to insult anyone who suffers from any of the conditions talked about in this story, AT ALL.] **

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><p>"<em>Happy Tree Town Asylum". <em>

Sugar looked up at the ominous gate in front of her – hopefully – soon-to-be workplace and sighed. _"I swear it looks worse every time I look at it…"_

Deciding it would do her no good to continue looking at it, she instead looked at her watch as she made her way towards the door. She was early. Supposedly, she wouldn't start working until 8h30, but it was only 8 o'clock. Oh well. Better early than late, right?

The young nurse had had a hard time sleeping the previous night. She couldn't stop thinking about the Red Zone and the patients that were kept there. Their screams kept echoing in her mind, over and over, like a broken record, and made her feel extremely anxious. She knew it would take a while before she was even allowed there, let alone be taught how to handle the patients, but she was dreading the moment already. Some of the patients sounded very aggressive, while others just sounded… well, insane. One in particular, a young girl from the sound of it, was seemingly convinced she had done nothing to deserve being in that place. She kept screaming that she was innocent… What could she have done?

Sugar took in a deep breath and made an effort to erase her anxiety from her heart as she rang the bell. She had to concentrate on her task that day, not worry about things that could never even happen – after all, she would only start working on the Red Zone if she did good with the easy patients. That day, she was just going to meet the other nurses, who would start instructing her on how to handle the most peaceful cases. _Thank god for that._

"Happy Tree Town Asylum. How may I help you?"

Sugar smiled. That was the same whimsical voice from the day before.

"It's Sugar, the new nurse… from yesterday…"

"Oh dear, you're early!"

The door opened to show the motherly looking nurse smiling pleasantly at the young girl in front of her.

"I know, I'm sorry…" Sugar apologized, walking in.

"Sorry? No, no, dear, it's a good thing. I advise every nurse to be here early. Gives you extra time to prepare and check on how the patients are doing."

Sugar nodded, making a mental note to always get there early.

"Well, follow me dear, the other nurses are here already."

The older nurse gestured for Sugar to follow her down the same corridor as the previous day. This time, they were probably heading towards the lounge room, instead of Dr. Grim's office. Sugar's eyes darted instantly to the door with the "Red Zone" label, but she managed to control herself and turn her gaze to the ground before she got too worried again. Just looking at that door was enough for her to remember the screaming. _That awful screaming…_

They stopped at the entrance of the lounge room, and all the nurses there immediately turned their eyes to them. Sugar dared a peek behind the older nurse and saw eight nurses, four men and four women. They were all older than her, but some were apparently on their 40's while some were in their early 30's or late 20's.

"Hello, Ma! New girl?" an excitable blonde female nurse asked.

"Yes. This is Sugar," the older nurse introduced, stepping aside and holding Sugar's shoulders, forcing her to move in front of her, thus turning all the attention to the young girl.

"U-um, hello," Sugar greeted, waving awkwardly.

The blonde nurse adjusted herself in her seat to get a better look at her and smiled widely. Another female nurse also smiled, while the remaining two women just stared at her. All the men nodded at her smiling.

"Sugar is here on trial. So, we have to help her out, okay?" Ma added, looking sternly at the two female nurses who were eyeing Sugar with doubtful looks.

They shrugged their shoulders and turned to each other whispering. Sugar had a feeling they were talking about her.

"Hey there, Sugar, I'm Spazzy," the excitable blonde said, jumping out of her seat to shake Sugar's hand.

Sugar smiled. That nurse seemed nice.

"Oh wow you're so young! Dr. Grim must have real faith in you if he's allowing you to even try it out. Hey Ma, can I be the one to supervise her? The others already have their hands full."

"I see no problem. You're okay with that, Sugar?" Ma asked.

"Yes, of course!" Better Spazzy than the other two women. They didn't look very pleased to see her there, though she couldn't see why.

"Well then, I suggest you start right now. I'll be at the reception's desk if you need anything." With that, Ma left, nodding one last time at Sugar with a reassuring smile.

Spazzy took it upon herself to be the one to hold Sugar's shoulders after Ma left, giving her a slight shake.

"Okay then! First things first – I'll introduce you in order. Melody, Huggles, Curly, Stinky, Rat, Snatchy and Trixie."

Sugar tried to memorize the names and pair them with the respective face as Spazzy pointed at the person as she named them. Melody was the other nice looking nurse, a brunette that seemed to be the youngest asides from herself; Huggles was a bulky looking man with a pleasant face; Curly had – surprise – curly hair and seemed to be more calm and serious; Stinky had unkempt hair and seemed extremely shy; finally, Rat had a cheeky and mischievous grin that revealed a golden tooth. The two other women, Snatchy and Trixie, looked very alike – they both looked like models, but with way too much make-up. Whether they were siblings or just modeled each other to look alike was anyone's guess.

"Now that we're done with that, explanation time!" Spazzy shook Sugar lightly again, dragging her out of the lounge room into the corridor. Sugar could feel there would be a lot of dragging and shaking in her future as Spazzy's "protégé".

"Okay, so – here is the door that leads to the Yellow Zone," Spazzy pointed.

Sugar looked up at a door that seemed to be exactly like the door to the Red Zone, except it had the label "Yellow Zone" above it.

"There are three zones here – Yellow, Orange and Red. The Yellow Zone is where we have all the peaceful patients. They are completely harmless, and they are allowed to hang around each other without much supervision."

Sugar nodded, pleased. Seemed easy enough. Spazzy then pointed to a door a little distanced from where they were standing.

"Next we have the Orange Zone, where we keep the patients that are only a danger to themselves. They are allowed to interact with other patients, but we have to watch them so they won't get injured. They are harmless to others, though."

"And finally, the Red Zone." Spazzy pointed at the door Sugar dreaded. "That is where we keep the patients that are a danger to others. Some are only dangerous in certain circumstances, while others need full-time supervision. But I wouldn't worry about them for now. You might only get to see one of them out here. Probably."

Sugar stared at her worriedly. "One of them?"

"Like I said, no need to worry!" Spazzy smacked Sugar's shoulder happily, nudging her towards the door to the Yellow Zone. "Go on, open the door."

The cheerful blonde spun a key in her index finger next to the new girl's face.

"'_No need to worry' she says – yeah right."_ Sugar sighed, defeated. She couldn't insist when she was looking at her with that goofy grin. _FINE._

She took the key and unlocked the door. One look inside, and she found a lounge room, bigger than the one the nurses had. There was a round table and small chairs around it. A box full of toys was kept in the corner, locked for the time being.

Spazzy walked in behind her, holding a key chain with 6 keys. "Now, in this area, we currently have six patients. One of them never leaves her room, so you just have to watch over the other five. Come on."

Sugar followed Spazzy as she headed towards a row of doors on the wall at their front. The first door had flower stickers adorning it, as well as pink letter-stickers forming a name: "GIGGLES".

"Is that the name of the patient?" Sugar asked.

Spazzy nodded, as she unlocked the door. Inside the room was a simple bed with flower-patterned sheets, a dresser with a large mirror and a make-up kit and a giant teddy bear leaning on the wall. Someone was already sitting on the bed.

"Good morning, princess," Spazzy greeted.

Sugar looked at the girl in the room. She was petite, and very beautiful. Her pink hair was adorned with a large red bow, though her clothes were the standard asylum-wear: white shirt, white pants and slippers. She was rocking her legs back and forth, her arms crossed in annoyance. As soon as her green eyes spotted Spazzy, she pouted.

"Where were you? I'm bored!" she whined in a high-pitched, childlike voice.

"You're not supposed to be up so early, sweetheart. Bad time sleeping?" Spazzy asked sweetly. She sounded like a mother talking to a very young child.

Giggles looked at the mirror and combed her hair with her hands. "No… I woke up early and wanted to play. I want to play!"

The girl jumped slightly in her bed, just like a young child. Sugar watched her carefully. She didn't look like the average asylum patient… what could her condition possibly be?

"Don't worry honey, you can come out and play now. Your friends must be waking up too," Spazzy said.

Giggles smiled happily, jumping out of the bed. "Can I put on my pretty dress?"

Spazzy nodded. "Sure, honey. The red frilly one right?"

The pink haired teen nodded. "Hm-hm." Only then did she notice Sugar, and her cheerful face morphed into a confused face. "Who is she?"

The blonde nurse glanced at Sugar, while opening the dresser to look for Giggles' dress. "That is Sugar. She is a new nurse here, and she'll help you with anything you need. I'm sure the two of you will be good friends."

The young patient giggled lightly, smiling cheerfully at Sugar. "Yay a new friend! I can show you my dolls and we can play together!"

Sugar smiled and nodded. "That sounds like fun. But we should wait for your friends or they might get jealous."

Giggles pouted. "Okaaay. But they never want to play with dolls… "

"Oh are you the only girl in the Yellow Zone?"

"No, but Flaky never gets out of her room so I can't play with her…" Giggles answered, curling her short hair while looking at her feet. "So I'm left alone with the boys."

The young nurse nodded. New information had just been obtained – the name of the patient that never left her room and the fact that the other four patients were men. Sugar wondered why Flaky didn't get out of her room… If she was in the Yellow Zone she couldn't be dangerous; maybe she was locked in because of her condition? Speaking of condition, Sugar was still confused as to what Giggles suffered from. All that seemed wrong with her was the fact that she acted like a child, but without the standard odd behavior and apparent hallucinations, it couldn't be schizophrenia… Plus, she answered her questions and seemed perfectly capable of conducting normal conversations.

"Here it is, honey."

Both nurse and patient looked at Spazzy, who held in her hands a red dress with white frills. "Is this the one?"

Giggles clapped her hands and jumped off her bed. "Yes, yes!" She ran up to Spazzy and seized the dress, heading towards her bed again. "Can you help me get dressed, Miss Sugar?"

Sugar looked at her surprised, but pleased. "Of course, honey."

Spazzy smiled at them.

"I'll go open the doors for the other patients on the mean time, okay?"

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><p>A couple of minutes later, Sugar left the room, followed by Giggles, who held her hand and skipped behind her. Sugar had gotten her in the red frilly dress, and had combed her hair, which now looked like pink silk. The young teen was carrying her large teddy bear in her arms, and as soon as she was out of her room she ran up to the toy box and opened it, obviously looking for her dolls.<p>

Sugar looked at the other doors. Asides from Giggles' room, three others were already open. Spazzy was coming out of the fourth room, with a boy following her. He had purple hair in a bowl cut, and was looking around him excitedly, as if he could see something that only he could see. Waiting for them outside were two other male patients, older than the bowl cut boy and Giggles. One of them had orange spiky hair and was holding his arms down in an unnaturally stiff manner; the other one had brown messy hair over his eyes and was standing next to the other man as if he was frozen in place. He didn't even seem to be breathing.

"Ah done already?" Spazzy asked cheerfully, gesturing for the boy behind her to head towards the round table. He followed her instructions obediently, performing a classic mime act of pulling a rope to drag himself on the way. He sat at the table and immediately started pretending to be drinking tea from a non-existent tea cup. The brown-haired patient remained frozen in place, while the other one leaned on a wall frowning, slowly sliding down until he was sitting on the floor.

Sugar walked up to the older nurse, looking back at Giggles, who was gathering her dolls eagerly. "Spazzy, what is Giggles' condition exactly? It's not schizophrenia is it? And it doesn't seem like a personality disorder…"

Spazzy looked at Giggles for a couple of seconds with a sad expression. "She doesn't belong here."

"W… what do you mean?"

"Giggles was committed to the asylum by her parents. She was in a car accident when she was 7 along with her family. Her older sister died that day. Giggles survived, but was left with post-traumatic amnesia and Anterograde amnesia."

Sugar gasped lightly.

Spazzy continued. "Doctors have declared that the damage is permanent. Ever since that day she has been stuck in the memories and personality of her 7-year old self, and has trouble storing new memories. So, don't take it personally if she forgets your name by tomorrow…"

"But I don't understand… she is not medically insane, no kind of amnesia is enough to get someone in an asylum…" Sugar insisted.

"Try and tell her parents that," Spazzy spat. "Her family is quite influential around these parts, and I suppose having a teenage daughter who would always act as a child would be too embarrassing for them. They cared for her until she was 16, but as soon as they realized she would never grow into a 'proper' young lady that they could marry off to some rich boy, they ditched her here. Left a good chunk of money to make sure we wouldn't let her out too, and told all of their rich friends that she had died from an illness. There was a funeral and everything."

Sugar stared at Spazzy in shock. That was… despicable! It made her head hurt just thinking about someone doing that to their own daughter; abandoning her in an asylum just because they didn't want to deal with her condition… What kind of parents were they?! Worse, why would Dr. Grim agree with a bribe?

"But that is not… how could they do that to her? How could _you guys_ agree to it? Dr. Grim just took the money to keep her as a prisoner, is that it?" Sugar snapped outraged.

Spazzy shook her head. "Dr. Grim took the money to make sure he would have the resources to keep their daughter conformable. Giggles does not belong here, but that doesn't mean she is not happy."

"How can she be happy here?"

The blonde nurse evaluated Sugar. "Here, she has people that care for her. She has the nurses, who help her with anything she needs, that play with her, tell her bedtime stories and comfort her when she has nightmares. She has other patients that keep her company and are her friends. Do you think she would have that at home, from what I just told you?"

Both nurses looked back at Giggles.

The pink haired patient was now playing pretend with her dolls, nagging the purple haired boy next to her to join her. He politely declined her requests via mimic, but she ignored him entirely and shoved a doll dressed as a maid in his hands. He stared at the doll confused while the girl giggled happily.

As sad as it was, Sugar had to admit Spazzy was right. Giggles was happy there. Happier than she'd ever be with a family that saw her as a nuisance.


End file.
